U.S. patent application number 16/949897 was filed with the patent office on 2021-05-13 for dynamically configuring a process based on environmental characteristics monitored by a mobile device.
This patent application is currently assigned to salesforce.com, inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is salesforce.com, inc.. Invention is credited to Michael Chou, Qingqing Liu, Adrian Dieter Rapp.
Application Number | 20210141650 16/949897 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005345482 |
Filed Date | 2021-05-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210141650 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rapp; Adrian Dieter ; et
al. |
May 13, 2021 |
DYNAMICALLY CONFIGURING A PROCESS BASED ON ENVIRONMENTAL
CHARACTERISTICS MONITORED BY A MOBILE DEVICE
Abstract
Disclosed are non-limiting examples of systems, apparatus,
methods and computer program products for dynamically configuring a
process associated with an application based on environmental
characteristics monitored by a mobile device. In some
implementations, the process includes stages and decision nodes.
There is a configurable flow along a path defined by a subset of
the stages controlled by a subset of the decision nodes. Contextual
data is provided by the mobile device on which the application is
usable. The contextual data indicates one or more environmental
characteristics associated with a physical environment in which the
mobile device is or has been located. The contextual data can be
provided as a control input to a decision node associated with a
current stage of the process. The process can be configured
accordingly.
Inventors: |
Rapp; Adrian Dieter;
(Sausalito, CA) ; Liu; Qingqing; (Dublin, CA)
; Chou; Michael; (Burlingame, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
salesforce.com, inc. |
San Francisco |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
salesforce.com, inc.
San Francisco
CA
|
Family ID: |
1000005345482 |
Appl. No.: |
16/949897 |
Filed: |
November 19, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16175618 |
Oct 30, 2018 |
10866819 |
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16949897 |
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15405708 |
Jan 13, 2017 |
10146581 |
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16175618 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 9/5005 20130101;
G06F 9/4498 20180201; G06Q 50/01 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 9/448 20060101
G06F009/448; G06F 9/50 20060101 G06F009/50; G06Q 50/00 20060101
G06Q050/00 |
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A system for dynamically configuring a workflow associated with
an application based on one or more environmental characteristics,
the system comprising: a database system implemented using a server
system comprising one or more processors, the database system
configurable to cause: receiving contextual data provided by a
mobile device on which an application is usable, the contextual
data indicating one or more environmental characteristics detected
using electronics of the mobile device, the one or more
environmental characteristics at least partially relating to at
least one of: (i) a physical environment in which the mobile device
is or has been located, or (ii) a physical aspect of the mobile
device; identifying, using one or more data objects stored in a
database, a workflow associated with the application, the workflow
being configurable to have a path of at least a subset of a
plurality of available stages; identifying a first stage of the
available stages, the first stage being a current stage of the
workflow; processing the contextual data to identify the one or
more environmental characteristics; determining, using computing
logic associated with the workflow, that the one or more
environmental characteristics satisfies one or more workflow
conditions associated with the workflow; responsive to determining
that the one or more environmental characteristics satisfies the
one or more workflow conditions, configuring the workflow, wherein
the configuring comprises determining and/or configuring a second
stage of the available stages to follow the first stage; storing or
updating database data in the database to identify the configured
workflow; and outputting workflow data representing the configured
workflow, the workflow data configured to be processed to cause
display of an indication of at least the determined and/or
configured second stage.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the application is situated on
the mobile device or on a server with which the mobile device is
capable of communicating.
23. The system of claim 21, wherein the configuring the workflow
comprises one or more of: determining and/or configuring a behavior
of the workflow, determining and/or configuring the computing
logic, determining and/or configuring a functionality of the
workflow, determining and/or configuring a logic of a stage of the
workflow, determining and/or configuring a rule associated with the
workflow, determining and/or configuring one or more user actions
to be performed, or determining and/or configuring one or more
system events to be performed.
24. The system of claim 23, wherein a system event is determined
and/or configured to be performed in relation to one or more of: a
social network feed or a customer relationship management (CRM)
record stored in a database.
25. The system of claim 23, wherein a user action is determined
and/or configured to be performed in relation to one or more
tasks.
26. The system of claim 21, wherein the one or more workflow
conditions is configurable by a reference value with which at least
a portion of the contextual data can be compared.
27. The system of claim 21, wherein the contextual data comprises
one or more of: accelerometer information, geolocation information,
altitude information, battery life information, network signal
strength information, proximity sensor information, light level
information, noise level information or fingerprint
information.
28. The system of claim 21, wherein the determining and/or
configuring the second stage comprises one or more of: replacing a
stage, removing a stage, adding a stage or modifying a stage.
29. A computer program product associated with dynamically
configuring a workflow associated with an application based on one
or more environmental characteristics, the computer program product
comprising computer-readable program code capable of being executed
by one or more processors when retrieved from a non-transitory
computer-readable medium, the program code comprising instructions
configurable to cause: receiving contextual data provided by a
mobile device on which an application is usable, the contextual
data indicating one or more environmental characteristics detected
using electronics of the mobile device, the one or more
environmental characteristics at least partially relating to at
least one of: (i) a physical environment in which the mobile device
is or has been located, or (ii) a physical aspect of the mobile
device; identifying, using one or more data objects stored in a
database, a workflow associated with the application, the workflow
being configurable to have a path of at least a subset of a
plurality of available stages; identifying a first stage of the
available stages, the first stage being a current stage of the
workflow; processing the contextual data to identify the one or
more environmental characteristics; determining, using computing
logic associated with the workflow, that the one or more
environmental characteristics satisfies one or more workflow
conditions associated with the workflow; responsive to determining
that the one or more environmental characteristics satisfies the
one or more workflow conditions, configuring the workflow, wherein
the configuring comprises determining and/or configuring a second
stage of the available stages to follow the first stage; storing or
updating database data in the database to identify the configured
workflow; and outputting workflow data representing the configured
workflow, the workflow data configured to be processed to cause
display of an indication of at least the determined and/or
configured second stage.
30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the
configuring the workflow comprises one or more of: determining
and/or configuring a behavior of the workflow, determining and/or
configuring the computing logic, determining and/or configuring a
functionality of the workflow, determining and/or configuring a
logic of a stage of the workflow, determining and/or configuring a
rule associated with the workflow, determining and/or configuring
one or more user actions to be performed, or determining and/or
configuring one or more system events to be performed.
31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein a system
event is determined and/or configured to be performed in relation
to one or more of: a social network feed or a customer relationship
management (CRM) record stored in a database.
32. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein a user action
is determined and/or configured to be performed in relation to one
or more tasks.
33. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the one or
more workflow conditions is configurable by a reference value with
which at least a portion of the contextual data can be
compared.
34. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the
contextual data comprises one or more of: accelerometer
information, geolocation information, altitude information, battery
life information, network signal strength information, proximity
sensor information, light level information, noise level
information or fingerprint information.
35. A method for dynamically configuring a workflow associated with
an application based on one or more environmental characteristics,
the method comprising: receiving contextual data provided by a
mobile device on which an application is usable, the contextual
data indicating one or more environmental characteristics detected
using electronics of the mobile device, the one or more
environmental characteristics at least partially relating to at
least one of: (i) a physical environment in which the mobile device
is or has been located, or (ii) a physical aspect of the mobile
device; identifying, using one or more data objects stored in a
database, a workflow associated with the application, the workflow
being configurable to have a path of at least a subset of a
plurality of available stages; identifying a first stage of the
available stages, the first stage being a current stage of the
workflow; processing the contextual data to identify the one or
more environmental characteristics; determining, using computing
logic associated with the workflow, that the one or more
environmental characteristics satisfies one or more workflow
conditions associated with the workflow; responsive to determining
that the one or more environmental characteristics satisfies the
one or more workflow conditions, configuring the workflow, wherein
the configuring comprises determining and/or configuring a second
stage of the available stages to follow the first stage; storing or
updating database data in the database to identify the configured
workflow; and outputting workflow data representing the configured
workflow, the workflow data configured to be processed to cause
display of an indication of at least the determined and/or
configured second stage.
36. The method of claim 35, wherein the configuring the workflow
comprises one or more of: determining and/or configuring a behavior
of the workflow, determining and/or configuring the computing
logic, determining and/or configuring a functionality of the
workflow, determining and/or configuring a logic of a stage of the
workflow, determining and/or configuring a rule associated with the
workflow, determining and/or configuring one or more user actions
to be performed, or determining and/or configuring one or more
system events to be performed.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein a system event is determined
and/or configured to be performed in relation to one or more of: a
social network feed or a customer relationship management (CRM)
record stored in a database.
38. The method of claim 36, wherein a user action is determined
and/or configured to be performed in relation to one or more
tasks.
39. The method of claim 35, wherein the one or more workflow
conditions is configurable by a reference value with which at least
a portion of the contextual data can be compared.
40. The method of claim 35, wherein the contextual data comprises
one or more of: accelerometer information, geolocation information,
altitude information, battery life information, network signal
strength information, proximity sensor information, light level
information, noise level information or fingerprint information.
Description
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
[0001] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains
material, which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright
owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of
the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the
Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise
reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
[0002] An Application Data Sheet is filed concurrently with this
specification as part of the present application. Each application
that the present application claims benefit of or priority to as
identified in the concurrently filed Application Data Sheet is
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and for all
purposes.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0003] This patent document generally relates to processes in a
computing environment and, more specifically, to techniques for
configuring processes based on contextual data provided by a mobile
device.
BACKGROUND
[0004] "Cloud computing" services provide shared resources,
software, and information to computers and other devices upon
request. In cloud computing environments, software can be
accessible over the Internet rather than installed locally on
in-house computer systems. Cloud computing typically involves
over-the-Internet provision of dynamically scalable and often
virtualized resources. Technological details can be abstracted from
the users, who no longer have need for expertise in, or control
over, the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports
them.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] The included drawings are for illustrative purposes and
serve only to provide examples of possible structures and
operations for the disclosed inventive systems, apparatus, methods
and computer program products. These drawings in no way limit any
changes in form and detail that may be made by one skilled in the
art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed
implementations.
[0006] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an example of a framework
100 of sequences of stages and associated decision nodes for
dynamically configuring a process associated with an application
based on environmental characteristics monitored by a mobile
device, according to some implementations.
[0007] FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an example of a method 200 for
dynamically configuring a process associated with an application
based on environmental characteristics monitored by a mobile
device, according to some implementations.
[0008] FIG. 3A shows a partial flow diagram of an example of a
process 300A being dynamically configured based on environmental
characteristics monitored by a mobile device, according to some
implementations.
[0009] FIG. 3B shows a partial flow diagram of another example of a
process 300B being dynamically configured based on environmental
characteristics monitored by a mobile device, according to some
implementations.
[0010] FIG. 3C shows a partial flow diagram of another example of a
process 300C being dynamically configured based on environmental
characteristics monitored by a mobile device, according to some
implementations.
[0011] FIG. 4A shows a block diagram of an example of an
environment 10 in which an on-demand database service can be used
in accordance with some implementations.
[0012] FIG. 4B shows a block diagram of an example of some
implementations of elements of FIG. 4A and various possible
interconnections between these elements.
[0013] FIG. 5A shows a system diagram of an example of
architectural components of an on-demand database service
environment 900, in accordance with some implementations.
[0014] FIG. 5B shows a system diagram further illustrating an
example of architectural components of an on-demand database
service environment, in accordance with some implementations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Examples of systems, apparatus, methods and computer program
products according to the disclosed implementations are described
in this section. These examples are being provided solely to add
context and aid in the understanding of the disclosed
implementations. It will thus be apparent to one skilled in the art
that implementations may be practiced without some or all of these
specific details. In other instances, certain operations have not
been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring
implementations. Other applications are possible, such that the
following examples should not be taken as definitive or limiting
either in scope or setting.
[0016] In the following detailed description, references are made
to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the description
and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific
implementations. Although these implementations are described in
sufficient detail to enable one skilled in the art to practice the
disclosed implementations, it is understood that these examples are
not limiting, such that other implementations may be used and
changes may be made without departing from their spirit and scope.
For example, the operations of methods shown and described herein
are not necessarily performed in the order indicated. It should
also be understood that the methods may include more or fewer
operations than are indicated. In some implementations, operations
described herein as separate operations may be combined.
Conversely, what may be described herein as a single operation may
be implemented in multiple operations.
[0017] Some implementations described or referenced herein are
directed to different systems, methods, apparatus and computer
program products for dynamically configuring a process based on
environmental characteristics monitored by a mobile device. In some
implementations, the behavior, logic and/or functionality of a
process associated with a computing application can be dynamically
determined and/or altered using contextual data automatically
detected by the electronics of a user's mobile device, such as a
smartphone. In some implementations, the process is a part of a
native application, that is, a computing application installed on
the mobile device. In some other implementations, the process and
computing application are partially or entirely server-based, such
as in the case of cloud-based services accessible via a web browser
installed on the mobile device. In such server-based scenarios,
when a process is partially or entirely carried out by one or more
servers, a server sends data and instructions to the mobile device
to control what is displayed on the device. While the process is
being carried out, the mobile device can be monitoring and sending
to the server contextual data indicating environmental
characteristics of a physical environment in which the mobile
device is or has been located such as accelerometer data,
geolocation data, altitude data, battery life, network signal
strength, proximity sensor data, detected light levels, audio data
indicating background noise level, fingerprint sensor data
identifying a fingerprint of a user touching a display screen of
the mobile device, or any combination thereof. When such
information is received at the server, the information can be
provided as a control input to determine the next stage of the
configurable process, as further explained herein.
[0018] Those skilled in the art should appreciate that, in some
implementations, the server-based processing described above is
carried out on the mobile device, so the disclosed techniques can
be implemented entirely on the mobile device rather than in a
client-server scenario.
[0019] In some implementations, the contextual data is stored in
metadata and processed to configure, modify and/or optimize the
behavior, logic and/or functionality of a process to provide more
relevant computing services to a user of the application. The
sequence of stages of a process can thus be dynamically determined.
The logic driving an application's behavior and user interface on
the mobile device can thus be controlled in near real-time using
contextual data. In some other implementations, the behavior and
user interface of an online service accessible via a web browser on
a mobile device can similarly be controlled and altered.
[0020] In some implementations, the criteria of certain rules
associated with a current stage of a process can be applied to
contextual data to determine which stage or sequence of stages
follows the current stage when the rules are automatically applied
in carrying out the process. For instance, a rule can specify that
stage C rather than stage B is to follow current stage A when
monitored geolocation data or battery life is within a designated
numerical range or has some other condition/characteristic. Thus,
the flow of a process and associated data to be displayed to a user
can be dynamically changed from its default path based on
contextual data. In some other implementations, the criteria itself
can be set or adjusted using contextual data or a history of
contextual data to affect which stage follows the current stage. In
some other implementations, metadata controlling rules or business
logic can be altered based on contextual data.
[0021] In a non-limiting example, salesforce.com, inc. of San
Francisco, Calif. provides cloud-based workflow tools such as
Visual Workflow.TM. or Lightning Process Builder.TM., which
provides to customer organizations of salesforce.com, inc. an
online service for graphically representing and declaratively
building automated business processes using workflow rules. System
events, processing stages, decision nodes, sequences of stages,
tasks such as user actions, etc. can be selected, inserted,
manipulated and customized to set up an automated process framework
using Lightning Process Builder.TM.. For instance, a system
administrator (admin) or other authorized user can drag and drop
blocks of logic corresponding to stages to create and customize a
process. The admin can graphically insert and customize decision
nodes, for instance, so a "Yes" outcome to a decision leads a user
down one path, while "No" leads down another. The admin can work
through a user interface to define and customize stages and process
flow in terms of business logic and decision nodes. For instance,
rules and criteria can be selected, customized, and applied at a
decision node.
[0022] In some implementations, the disclosed techniques can be
used in relation to various applications and online services that
provide mobile field service, because a common goal in mobile field
service is to provide a field service technician or other user
carrying a mobile device with a "guided path", which suggests next
steps in the form of tasks for the user to complete her work using
her mobile device. Signals carrying contextual data can be relayed
from the mobile device to a server as an input to a process
constructed with a tool such as Lightning Process Builder.TM.,
which defines state transitions, visibility of fields, workflow
triggers, etc. for a process to move from one stage to the next.
For instance, a field service technician using a particular process
could have a default sequence of tasks, which the technician is
instructed to follow. With some of the disclosed techniques,
however, a decision node can be linked with each task to determine
what the next task or set of tasks will be according to current
contextual data detected at the technician's mobile device. Tasks
can be removed, skipped, replaced, altered, added, etc. depending
on current environmental characteristics. Mobile device contextual
data can thus be leveraged by a process and associated application
to present an optimized user interface to the user, intelligently
suggest next best tasks or other actions, restrict the user from
taking actions which are not optimal in the current environment,
and surface more relevant information to the user. The ultimate
flow of the process as affected by the contextual data will be
relayed back to the mobile device to be presented in a user
interface to enhance and streamline the user experience.
[0023] By way of illustration, Bob is a field service technician
employed by a cable television company. When Bob is dispatched to
perform a repair at a customer site, he uses a mobile service app
on his iPhone.RTM.. The mobile service app interacts with a process
on a back-end server that prompts Bob to enter various data and
instructs Bob as to tasks to perform to complete a repair. Some of
the disclosed techniques can be implemented to leverage contextual
data relayed from Bob's mobile device to the server. Based on the
relayed environmental characteristics, the server can send a signal
to update the user interface on Bob's mobile device to be scoped to
the most relevant information for Bob at the particular stage of
performing the repair. Based on what is deciphered from Bob's
contextual data, Bob is guided through a dynamically configured
process for a user experience based on what the cable television
company wants, such as specific next tasks to perform, instructions
as to how to perform the tasks, focused questions to gather
pertinent user input from Bob, etc. Thus, Bob can efficiently and
effectively respond to and navigate through a variety of
scenarios.
[0024] When Bob is completing his repair job, background noise
relayed by Bob's iPhone.RTM. can be processed to determine that Bob
is in too noisy of an environment. Thus, a default process flow can
be altered using the disclosed techniques to cause a page layout to
be displayed on Bob's iPhone.RTM. that only provides Bob with the
option of manually typing a report rather than the default next
step of instructing Bob to make a voice recording or video. Or if
the battery life on Bob's iPhone.RTM. is below a threshold, Bob can
be instructed to refrain from the usual next step of taking a
picture to validate that the repair is complete. Instead, Bob can
be instructed to check his email later for a link to click through
and manually update a database record. In another example,
geolocation information relayed by Bob's iPhone.RTM. may indicate
that Bob has already left the customer site before completing the
report. Thus, the process flow can be changed to create a task
instructing Bob to return to the site by a certain deadline and
only then record the serial number of an installed piece of
hardware. Otherwise, a prompt would be immediately displayed on
Bob's iPhone.RTM. asking for the serial number. By the same token,
the timing of obtaining a customer's signature can be changed
depending on geolocation information. If Bob is still at the
customer site, Bob can be prompted to obtain the customer's
signature. If Bob has left the site, Bob can be prompted to return
to the site or skip the signature stage and start working on the
next job order.
[0025] Some of the disclosed techniques can be similarly
implemented to assist mobile workers in other field service
scenarios such as insurance claims representatives dispatched to an
automobile accident site to assess damage, automobile glass repair
technicians dispatched to a customer's home to replace a windshield
of a specific make, model and year of the customer's car, package
delivery persons, and door-to-door salespeople. In some scenarios,
contextual data can be used to determine an optimal communication
channel for a technician or other user to communicate with her
team, manager, dispatcher, etc. For example, in low bandwidth
environments, instant messaging may be more desirable than a phone
call or video conference. Thus, in various settings, a guided,
dynamically customized and optimized flow with up-to-date and
relevant instructions for a user can be provided by practicing some
of the disclosed implementations.
[0026] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an example of a framework
100 of sequences of stages and associated decision nodes for
dynamically configuring a process associated with an application
based on environmental characteristics monitored by a mobile
device, according to some implementations. In FIG. 1, a process can
be defined and dynamically configured with any number of stages,
some of which are identified by reference numerals 104a-104f. Some
stages such as stages 104a-104f have associated decision nodes, as
identified by reference numerals 108a-108f. A process implemented
and configured according to framework 100 of FIG. 1 can be a
component of an application installed on a mobile device. In some
other implementations, the application can be located on one or
more servers with which a mobile device can interact to receive and
display output data of the application. In some other
implementations, one or more components of an application are
installed on the mobile device, while other components of the
application are installed on a server.
[0027] In FIG. 1, the process has a configurable flow along any
number of possible paths through various stages. The ultimate path
followed by the process is controlled at least in part by outcomes
of determinations at decision nodes, such as nodes 108a-108f of
stages 104a-104f. For example, applying criteria at a subset of
decision nodes, namely nodes 108a, 108b, 108d and 108f has resulted
in a path 112 defined by a subset of stages corresponding to the
subset of decision nodes, namely stages 104a, 104b, 104d and 104f.
Thus, the selection of a particular subset of stages to define the
flow of a process is determined at least in part by the application
of a criterion or criteria at each decision node. In this example,
defining and/or updating criteria at a given node as well as the
contextual data to which the criteria is applied affects the next
stage to follow a current stage and impacts which particular subset
of stages is followed to define path 112. Business rules applying
the criteria and other application-specific information of the
particular process will also have an effect on the outcome at a
given decision node. Various other paths in addition to or as an
alternative to path 112 can be followed using various different
subsets of the stages illustrated in FIG. 1 to define a
configurable flow.
[0028] FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an example of a method 200 for
dynamically configuring a process associated with an application
based on environmental characteristics monitored by a mobile
device, according to some implementations. In FIG. 2, at 204, one
or more servers provide a process associated with an application.
That is, in this example, the process is managed at one or more
servers in the cloud and delivers data to a mobile device that can
be displayed or cause updating of a user interface on a display of
the device. This displaying and updating of data in a user
interface can encompass not only the display of particular
graphical objects, text, instructions and fields in a presentation,
but also the available graphical input controls and/or types of
controls for a given field based on contextual data. In FIG. 2,
during the performance of the process, at 206, the mobile device
displays a user interface associated with a current stage of the
process. At 208, contextual data as gathered by the mobile device
is transmitted to the server. It should be noted that 208 need not
follow 206, for instance, when contextual data has been transmitted
to the server before displaying or updating the user interface at
206.
[0029] In FIG. 2, when the server receives the contextual data from
the mobile device, at 212, the server can use the contextual data
as a control input to a decision node associated with a current
stage of the process, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For example,
criteria can be applied to the contextual data generated at 208 of
FIG. 2. At 216, the server applies one or more criteria
corresponding to a decision node of the current stage of the
process to determine an outcome and corresponding next stage of the
process. For example, at 216, one or more user-configurable
workflow rules can be applied, where the workflow rules incorporate
the criteria. As further illustrated herein, a workflow rule can be
configured using a reference value with which at least a portion of
the contextual data can be compared. For example, a workflow rule
can be satisfied when a power level or other battery status data
provided by the mobile device is less than or equal to 5 volts.
[0030] In FIG. 2, depending on the outcome of whether the
contextual data obtained from the mobile device satisfies one or
more criteria at the current decision node, at 220, the server
dynamically configures the process by determining one or more next
stages along which the process is to flow. At 224, the server can
store or update data in a database or other suitable computer
readable medium to track path 112 of the process, as illustrated in
FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, at 228, before or after the storage of data at
224, the server can transmit a signal to the mobile device to cause
the user interface to display instructions, relevant data and any
other graphical content to at least indicate the next stage of the
process as determined at 220.
[0031] As mentioned above, when criteria is applied to contextual
data to determine a next stage of the process, the process can be
dynamically configured by replacing a stage, removing a stage,
adding a stage, and/or modifying a stage based on the contextual
data. Also, while FIG. 2 shows an example in which one or more
servers perform the above-described operations at 204, 212, 216,
220 and 224, some alternative examples provide for the mobile
device to perform one or more of such operations, as should be
appreciated by those skilled in the art.
[0032] The overall behavior, logic and/or functionality of a
process can be determined or configured using the disclosed
techniques, as can a particular stage of the process. In some
implementations, a next stage of a process as determined using the
disclosed techniques can include specific tasks or other user
actions. In some implementations, the next stage of a dynamically
configurable process indicates one or more tasks instructed or
suggested to a user to perform. A specific task, which a user is
instructed to perform at a next stage of a configurable process can
be determined and/or configured based on contextual data received
from a mobile device. For example, as further illustrated in the
examples below, a task-based workflow can be defined or modified in
relation to contextual data to govern which tasks are conveyed to a
user's mobile device. For instance, the specific battery level of
the mobile device in relation to a threshold may govern whether a
user is instructed to change power settings on the device or put
the device in sleep mode. In some implementations, a system event
associated with a next stage of a dynamic process can be determined
and/or configured to be performed in relation to a social network
feed, as in the case of a social networking system being available.
In some other implementations, a system event can be performed in
relation to a customer relationship management (CRM) record stored
in a database, for instance, when one or more fields of the record
are to be updated.
[0033] FIG. 3A shows a partial flow diagram of an example of a
process 300A being dynamically configured based on environmental
characteristics monitored by a mobile device, according to some
implementations. In FIG. 3A, as part of the performance of
dynamically configurable process 300A, a decision node 304 is
reached. It is determined at decision node 304 in the setting of a
given application whether a field service technician using a mobile
device is required to deliver detailed notes to a customer being
serviced by the technician. For instance, a customer case or other
CRM record stored in a CRM database can be checked to determine
whether delivery of notes is appropriate. If not, the flow of
process 300A proceeds to 306, where a user interface on the
technician's mobile device is controlled to prevent entering text,
which the technician would otherwise do to update the customer's
case in the CRM database.
[0034] In FIG. 3A, returning to node 304, in situations where the
detailed notes are supposed to be delivered to the customer as part
of the application being used by the technician, process 300A is
configured to flow to decision node 308, at which it is determined
whether ambient sound picked up by a microphone on the technician's
mobile device is greater than a threshold level, such as 10
decibels (dB) in this example. When the ambient sound detected by
the technician's mobile device is less than or equal to 10 dB, in
this example, process 300A is configured to flow to stage 312, at
which a prompt is generated in a user interface on the mobile
device requesting that the technician dictate notes by speaking
into the microphone. Returning to decision node 308, when ambient
sound is greater than 10 dB, in this example, the flow of process
300A is configured to proceed to stage 316, at which a prompt is
displayed on the technician's mobile device requesting the
technician to manually enter text using a keyboard, as opposed to
voice dictation. Returning to decision node 308, those skilled in
the art should appreciate that the 10 dB value is one of many
examples of a threshold, which can be user-specified and customized
as desired to affect the flow of process 300A.
[0035] FIG. 3B shows a partial flow diagram of another example of a
process 300B being dynamically configured based on environmental
characteristics monitored by a mobile device, according to some
implementations. In the example of FIG. 3B, when a field service
technician finishes servicing a current customer at the customer's
location, dynamically configurable process 300B reaches decision
node 324 during execution of an application with which process 300B
is associated. A CRM record stored in a database is checked at node
324 to determine whether there are any open opportunities or other
types of CRM records for the technician to sell additional items to
the current customer. For example, the cable company for which the
technician works may have an interest in offering an upgraded
Internet and phone package to the customer following resolution of
the customer's complaint.
[0036] In FIG. 3B, at node 324, if there are open opportunities
identified in the CRM database, process 300B is configured to
proceed to stage 328, at which a user interface on the technician's
mobile device is controlled to direct the technician to try to sell
the open opportunities to the current customer before leaving.
Returning to node 324, when there are no open opportunities
identified, process 300B is configured to proceed to decision node
332. In this example, node 332 is defined by a user-configurable
workflow rule to check whether current global positioning system
(GPS) coordinates of the technician's mobile phone are within 10
miles of addresses of any other customers to whom the open
opportunities can be pitched before the technician's next scheduled
appointment. In this example, 10 miles is a configurable criterion,
which can be customized by a user depending on the desired
implementation. For example, a distance greater than 10 miles
between the technician and another customer to whom the
opportunities are applicable may represent an unreasonably long
time required for the technician to travel before the technician's
next scheduled appointment.
[0037] In FIG. 3B, at node 332, when the GPS coordinates indicate
that another customer is within the 10 mile radius, process 300B is
configured to proceed to stage 336, at which the user interface on
the technician's mobile device is controlled to display a prompt
directing the technician to drive to visit the other customer and
pitch the new opportunities. At 332, when the GPS coordinates
indicate that there are no other customers within the 10 mile
radius, process 300B is configured to proceed to stage 340 to
direct the technician to drive to the next appointment to service
the next customer having technical issues or other problems.
[0038] FIG. 3C shows a partial flow diagram of another example of a
process 300C being dynamically configured based on environmental
characteristics monitored by a mobile device, according to some
implementations. In the example of FIG. 3C, when dynamically
configurable process 300C reaches decision node 340, metadata
stored in a CRM database is checked to determine whether the
customer is located in a potentially dangerous environment. For
example, any of the various types of environmental characteristics
detected by the mobile device can be compared with CRM metadata to
determine whether criteria indicating a dangerous environment are
satisfied. If not, process 300C is configured to proceed to stage
344, at which a safety feature on the technician's mobile device is
disabled.
[0039] In FIG. 3C, returning to node 340, when comparison of
environmental data with CRM metadata indicates that a given
customer is likely in a potentially dangerous environment, process
300C is configured to proceed to decision node 348, at which it is
determined whether an accelerometer in the technician's mobile
device has detected any movement of the device within a time
threshold, such as 5 minutes. As in the examples of FIGS. 3A and
3B, 5 minutes is a user-customizable criterion, which can be set to
govern the flow of configurable process 300C. At node 348, when
movement has been detected within the 5 minute threshold, process
300C is configured to repeat the determination at node 348,
generally after some delay period such as 5 seconds. At node 348,
in instances when no movement has been detected within 5 minutes,
process 300C is configured to proceed to 352, at which the user
interface on the technician's mobile device is controlled to
display a prompt requesting input from the technician to confirm
that the technician is safe before displaying data for the
technician to read and before enabling the device to allow the
technician to update information.
[0040] FIG. 4A shows a block diagram of an example of an
environment 10 in which an on-demand database service can be used
in accordance with some implementations. Environment 10 may include
user systems 12, network 14, database system 16, processor system
17, application platform 18, network interface 20, tenant data
storage 22, system data storage 24, program code 26, and process
space 28. In other implementations, environment 10 may not have all
of these components and/or may have other components instead of, or
in addition to, those listed above.
[0041] A user system 12 may be implemented as any computing
device(s) or other data processing apparatus such as a machine or
system used by a user to access a database system 16. For example,
any of user systems 12 can be a handheld and/or mobile computing
device such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, or
a tablet. Other examples of a user system include computing devices
such as a work station and/or a network of computing devices. As
illustrated in FIG. 4A (and in more detail in FIG. 4B) user systems
12 might interact via a network 14 with an on-demand database
service, which is implemented in the example of FIG. 4A as database
system 16.
[0042] An on-demand database service, implemented using system 16
by way of example, is a service that is made available to users who
do not need to necessarily be concerned with building and/or
maintaining the database system. Instead, the database system may
be available for their use when the users need the database system,
i.e., on the demand of the users. Some on-demand database services
may store information from one or more tenants into tables of a
common database image to form a multi-tenant database system (MTS).
A database image may include one or more database objects. A
relational database management system (RDBMS) or the equivalent may
execute storage and retrieval of information against the database
object(s). Application platform 18 may be a framework that allows
the applications of system 16 to run, such as the hardware and/or
software, e.g., the operating system. In some implementations,
application platform 18 enables creation, managing and executing
one or more applications developed by the provider of the on-demand
database service, users accessing the on-demand database service
via user systems 12, or third party application developers
accessing the on-demand database service via user systems 12.
[0043] The users of user systems 12 may differ in their respective
capacities, and the capacity of a particular user system 12 might
be entirely determined by permissions (permission levels) for the
current user. For example, when a salesperson is using a particular
user system 12 to interact with system 16, the user system has the
capacities allotted to that salesperson. However, while an
administrator is using that user system to interact with system 16,
that user system has the capacities allotted to that administrator.
In systems with a hierarchical role model, users at one permission
level may have access to applications, data, and database
information accessible by a lower permission level user, but may
not have access to certain applications, database information, and
data accessible by a user at a higher permission level. Thus,
different users will have different capabilities with regard to
accessing and modifying application and database information,
depending on a user's security or permission level, also called
authorization.
[0044] Network 14 is any network or combination of networks of
devices that communicate with one another. For example, network 14
can be any one or any combination of a LAN (local area network),
WAN (wide area network), telephone network, wireless network,
point-to-point network, star network, token ring network, hub
network, or other appropriate configuration. Network 14 can include
a TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol) network,
such as the global internetwork of networks often referred to as
the Internet. The Internet will be used in many of the examples
herein. However, it should be understood that the networks that the
present implementations might use are not so limited.
[0045] User systems 12 might communicate with system 16 using
TCP/IP and, at a higher network level, use other common Internet
protocols to communicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an
example where HTTP is used, user system 12 might include an HTTP
client commonly referred to as a "browser" for sending and
receiving HTTP signals to and from an HTTP server at system 16.
Such an HTTP server might be implemented as the sole network
interface 20 between system 16 and network 14, but other techniques
might be used as well or instead. In some implementations, the
network interface 20 between system 16 and network 14 includes load
sharing functionality, such as round-robin HTTP request
distributors to balance loads and distribute incoming HTTP requests
evenly over a plurality of servers. At least for users accessing
system 16, each of the plurality of servers has access to the MTS'
data; however, other alternative configurations may be used
instead.
[0046] In one implementation, system 16, shown in FIG. 4A,
implements a web-based CRM system. For example, in one
implementation, system 16 includes application servers configured
to implement and execute CRM software applications as well as
provide related data, code, forms, web pages and other information
to and from user systems 12 and to store to, and retrieve from, a
database system related data, objects, and Webpage content. With a
multi-tenant system, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the
same physical database object in tenant data storage 22, however,
tenant data typically is arranged in the storage medium(s) of
tenant data storage 22 so that data of one tenant is kept logically
separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not
have access to another tenant's data, unless such data is expressly
shared. In certain implementations, system 16 implements
applications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. For
example, system 16 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted
(standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application.
User (or third party developer) applications, which may or may not
include CRM, may be supported by the application platform 18, which
manages creation, storage of the applications into one or more
database objects and executing of the applications in a virtual
machine in the process space of the system 16.
[0047] One arrangement for elements of system 16 is shown in FIGS.
4A and 4B, including a network interface 20, application platform
18, tenant data storage 22 for tenant data 23, system data storage
24 for system data 25 accessible to system 16 and possibly multiple
tenants, program code 26 for implementing various functions of
system 16, and a process space 28 for executing MTS system
processes and tenant-specific processes, such as running
applications as part of an application hosting service. Additional
processes that may execute on system 16 include database indexing
processes.
[0048] Several elements in the system shown in FIG. 4A include
conventional, well-known elements that are explained only briefly
here. For example, each user system 12 could include a desktop
personal computer, workstation, laptop, PDA, cell phone, or any
wireless access protocol (WAP) enabled device or any other
computing device capable of interfacing directly or indirectly to
the Internet or other network connection. The term "computing
device" is also referred to herein simply as a "computer". User
system 12 typically runs an HTTP client, e.g., a browsing program,
such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, Netscape's Navigator
browser, Opera's browser, or a WAP-enabled browser in the case of a
cell phone, PDA or other wireless device, or the like, allowing a
user (e.g., subscriber of the multi-tenant database system) of user
system 12 to access, process and view information, pages and
applications available to it from system 16 over network 14. Each
user system 12 also typically includes one or more user input
devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, trackball, touch pad, touch
screen, pen or the like, for interacting with a GUI provided by the
browser on a display (e.g., a monitor screen, LCD display, OLED
display, etc.) of the computing device in conjunction with pages,
forms, applications and other information provided by system 16 or
other systems or servers. Thus, "display device" as used herein can
refer to a display of a computer system such as a monitor or
touch-screen display, and can refer to any computing device having
display capabilities such as a desktop computer, laptop, tablet,
smartphone, a television set-top box, or wearable device such
Google Glass.RTM. or other human body-mounted display apparatus.
For example, the display device can be used to access data and
applications hosted by system 16, and to perform searches on stored
data, and otherwise allow a user to interact with various GUI pages
that may be presented to a user. As discussed above,
implementations are suitable for use with the Internet, although
other networks can be used instead of or in addition to the
Internet, such as an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private
network (VPN), a non-TCP/IP based network, any LAN or WAN or the
like.
[0049] According to one implementation, each user system 12 and all
of its components are operator configurable using applications,
such as a browser, including computer code run using a central
processing unit such as an Intel Pentium.RTM. processor or the
like. Similarly, system 16 (and additional instances of an MTS,
where more than one is present) and all of its components might be
operator configurable using application(s) including computer code
to run using processor system 17, which may be implemented to
include a central processing unit, which may include an Intel
Pentium.RTM. processor or the like, and/or multiple processor
units. Non-transitory computer-readable media can have instructions
stored thereon/in, that can be executed by or used to program a
computing device to perform any of the methods of the
implementations described herein. Computer program code 26
implementing instructions for operating and configuring system 16
to intercommunicate and to process web pages, applications and
other data and media content as described herein is preferably
downloadable and stored on a hard disk, but the entire program
code, or portions thereof, may also be stored in any other volatile
or non-volatile memory medium or device as is well known, such as a
ROM or RAM, or provided on any media capable of storing program
code, such as any type of rotating media including floppy disks,
optical discs, digital versatile disk (DVD), compact disk (CD),
microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, and magnetic or optical
cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or any other
type of computer-readable medium or device suitable for storing
instructions and/or data. Additionally, the entire program code, or
portions thereof, may be transmitted and downloaded from a software
source over a transmission medium, e.g., over the Internet, or from
another server, as is well known, or transmitted over any other
conventional network connection as is well known (e.g., extranet,
VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communication medium and protocols (e.g.,
TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as are well known. It will
also be appreciated that computer code for the disclosed
implementations can be realized in any programming language that
can be executed on a client system and/or server or server system
such as, for example, C, C++, HTML, any other markup language,
Java.TM., JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scripting language, such
as VBScript, and many other programming languages as are well known
may be used. (Java.TM. is a trademark of Sun Microsystems,
Inc.).
[0050] According to some implementations, each system 16 is
configured to provide web pages, forms, applications, data and
media content to user (client) systems 12 to support the access by
user systems 12 as tenants of system 16. As such, system 16
provides security mechanisms to keep each tenant's data separate
unless the data is shared. If more than one MTS is used, they may
be located in close proximity to one another (e.g., in a server
farm located in a single building or campus), or they may be
distributed at locations remote from one another (e.g., one or more
servers located in city A and one or more servers located in city
B). As used herein, each MTS could include one or more logically
and/or physically connected servers distributed locally or across
one or more geographic locations. Additionally, the term "server"
is meant to refer to one type of computing device such as a system
including processing hardware and process space(s), an associated
storage medium such as a memory device or database, and, in some
instances, a database application (e.g., OODBMS or RDBMS) as is
well known in the art. It should also be understood that "server
system" and "server" are often used interchangeably herein.
Similarly, the database objects described herein can be implemented
as single databases, a distributed database, a collection of
distributed databases, a database with redundant online or offline
backups or other redundancies, etc., and might include a
distributed database or storage network and associated processing
intelligence.
[0051] FIG. 4B shows a block diagram of an example of some
implementations of elements of FIG. 4A and various possible
interconnections between these elements. That is, FIG. 4B also
illustrates environment 10. However, in FIG. 4B elements of system
16 and various interconnections in some implementations are further
illustrated. FIG. 4B shows that user system 12 may include
processor system 12A, memory system 12B, input system 12C, and
output system 12D. FIG. 4B shows network 14 and system 16. FIG. 4B
also shows that system 16 may include tenant data storage 22,
tenant data 23, system data storage 24, system data 25, User
Interface (UI) 30, Application Program Interface (API) 32, PL/SOQL
34, save routines 36, application setup mechanism 38, application
servers 50.sub.1-50.sub.N, system process space 52, tenant process
spaces 54, tenant management process space 60, tenant storage space
62, user storage 64, and application metadata 66. In other
implementations, environment 10 may not have the same elements as
those listed above and/or may have other elements instead of, or in
addition to, those listed above.
[0052] User system 12, network 14, system 16, tenant data storage
22, and system data storage 24 were discussed above in FIG. 4A.
Regarding user system 12, processor system 12A may be any
combination of one or more processors. Memory system 12B may be any
combination of one or more memory devices, short term, and/or long
term memory. Input system 12C may be any combination of input
devices, such as one or more keyboards, mice, trackballs, scanners,
cameras, and/or interfaces to networks. Output system 12D may be
any combination of output devices, such as one or more monitors,
printers, and/or interfaces to networks. As shown by FIG. 4B,
system 16 may include a network interface 20 (of FIG. 4A)
implemented as a set of application servers 50, an application
platform 18, tenant data storage 22, and system data storage 24.
Also shown is system process space 52, including individual tenant
process spaces 54 and a tenant management process space 60. Each
application server 50 may be configured to communicate with tenant
data storage 22 and the tenant data 23 therein, and system data
storage 24 and the system data 25 therein to serve requests of user
systems 12. The tenant data 23 might be divided into individual
tenant storage spaces 62, which can be either a physical
arrangement and/or a logical arrangement of data. Within each
tenant storage space 62, user storage 64 and application metadata
66 might be similarly allocated for each user. For example, a copy
of a user's most recently used (MRU) items might be stored to user
storage 64. Similarly, a copy of MRU items for an entire
organization that is a tenant might be stored to tenant storage
space 62. A UI 30 provides a user interface and an API 32 provides
an application programmer interface to system 16 resident processes
to users and/or developers at user systems 12. The tenant data and
the system data may be stored in various databases, such as one or
more Oracle.RTM. databases.
[0053] Application platform 18 includes an application setup
mechanism 38 that supports application developers' creation and
management of applications, which may be saved as metadata into
tenant data storage 22 by save routines 36 for execution by
subscribers as one or more tenant process spaces 54 managed by
tenant management process 60 for example. Invocations to such
applications may be coded using PL/SOQL 34 that provides a
programming language style interface extension to API 32. A
detailed description of some PL/SOQL language implementations is
discussed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,478, titled
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ALLOWING ACCESS TO DEVELOPED APPLICATIONS VIA
A MULTI-TENANT ON-DEMAND DATABASE SERVICE, by Craig Weissman,
issued on Jun. 1, 2010, and hereby incorporated by reference in its
entirety and for all purposes. Invocations to applications may be
detected by one or more system processes, which manage retrieving
application metadata 66 for the subscriber making the invocation
and executing the metadata as an application in a virtual
machine.
[0054] Each application server 50 may be communicably coupled to
database systems, e.g., having access to system data 25 and tenant
data 23, via a different network connection. For example, one
application server 50.sub.1 might be coupled via the network 14
(e.g., the Internet), another application server 50.sub.N-1 might
be coupled via a direct network link, and another application
server 50.sub.N might be coupled by yet a different network
connection. Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP) are typical protocols for communicating between
application servers 50 and the database system. However, it will be
apparent to one skilled in the art that other transport protocols
may be used to optimize the system depending on the network
interconnect used.
[0055] In certain implementations, each application server 50 is
configured to handle requests for any user associated with any
organization that is a tenant. Because it is desirable to be able
to add and remove application servers from the server pool at any
time for any reason, there is preferably no server affinity for a
user and/or organization to a specific application server 50. In
one implementation, therefore, an interface system implementing a
load balancing function (e.g., an F5 Big-IP load balancer) is
communicably coupled between the application servers 50 and the
user systems 12 to distribute requests to the application servers
50. In one implementation, the load balancer uses a least
connections algorithm to route user requests to the application
servers 50. Other examples of load balancing algorithms, such as
round robin and observed response time, also can be used. For
example, in certain implementations, three consecutive requests
from the same user could hit three different application servers
50, and three requests from different users could hit the same
application server 50. In this manner, by way of example, system 16
is multi-tenant, wherein system 16 handles storage of, and access
to, different objects, data and applications across disparate users
and organizations.
[0056] As an example of storage, one tenant might be a company that
employs a sales force where each salesperson uses system 16 to
manage their sales process. Thus, a user might maintain contact
data, leads data, customer follow-up data, performance data, goals
and progress data, etc., all applicable to that user's personal
sales process (e.g., in tenant data storage 22). In an example of a
MTS arrangement, since all of the data and the applications to
access, view, modify, report, transmit, calculate, etc., can be
maintained and accessed by a user system having nothing more than
network access, the user can manage his or her sales efforts and
cycles from any of many different user systems. For example, if a
salesperson is visiting a customer and the customer has Internet
access in their lobby, the salesperson can obtain critical updates
as to that customer while waiting for the customer to arrive in the
lobby.
[0057] While each user's data might be separate from other users'
data regardless of the employers of each user, some data might be
organization-wide data shared or accessible by a plurality of users
or all of the users for a given organization that is a tenant.
Thus, there might be some data structures managed by system 16 that
are allocated at the tenant level while other data structures might
be managed at the user level. Because an MTS might support multiple
tenants including possible competitors, the MTS should have
security protocols that keep data, applications, and application
use separate. Also, because many tenants may opt for access to an
MTS rather than maintain their own system, redundancy, up-time, and
backup are additional functions that may be implemented in the MTS.
In addition to user-specific data and tenant-specific data, system
16 might also maintain system level data usable by multiple tenants
or other data. Such system level data might include industry
reports, news, postings, and the like that are sharable among
tenants.
[0058] In certain implementations, user systems 12 (which may be
client systems) communicate with application servers 50 to request
and update system-level and tenant-level data from system 16 that
may involve sending one or more queries to tenant data storage 22
and/or system data storage 24. System 16 (e.g., an application
server 50 in system 16) automatically generates one or more SQL
statements (e.g., one or more SQL queries) that are designed to
access the desired information. System data storage 24 may generate
query plans to access the requested data from the database.
[0059] Each database can generally be viewed as a collection of
objects, such as a set of logical tables, containing data fitted
into predefined categories. A "table" is one representation of a
data object, and may be used herein to simplify the conceptual
description of objects and custom objects according to some
implementations. It should be understood that "table" and "object"
may be used interchangeably herein. Each table generally contains
one or more data categories logically arranged as columns or fields
in a viewable schema. Each row or record of a table contains an
instance of data for each category defined by the fields. For
example, a CRM database may include a table that describes a
customer with fields for basic contact information such as name,
address, phone number, fax number, etc. Another table might
describe a purchase order, including fields for information such as
customer, product, sale price, date, etc. In some multi-tenant
database systems, standard entity tables might be provided for use
by all tenants. For CRM database applications, such standard
entities might include tables for case, account, contact, lead, and
opportunity data objects, each containing pre-defined fields. It
should be understood that the word "entity" may also be used
interchangeably herein with "object" and "table".
[0060] In some multi-tenant database systems, tenants may be
allowed to create and store custom objects, or they may be allowed
to customize standard entities or objects, for example by creating
custom fields for standard objects, including custom index fields.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,779,039, titled CUSTOM ENTITIES
AND FIELDS IN A MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM, by Weissman et al.,
issued on Aug. 17, 2010, and hereby incorporated by reference in
its entirety and for all purposes, teaches systems and methods for
creating custom objects as well as customizing standard objects in
a multi-tenant database system. In certain implementations, for
example, all custom entity data rows are stored in a single
multi-tenant physical table, which may contain multiple logical
tables per organization. It is transparent to customers that their
multiple "tables" are in fact stored in one large table or that
their data may be stored in the same table as the data of other
customers.
[0061] FIG. 5A shows a system diagram of an example of
architectural components of an on-demand database service
environment 900, in accordance with some implementations. A client
machine located in the cloud 904, generally referring to one or
more networks in combination, as described herein, may communicate
with the on-demand database service environment via one or more
edge routers 908 and 912. A client machine can be any of the
examples of user systems 12 described above. The edge routers may
communicate with one or more core switches 920 and 924 via firewall
916. The core switches may communicate with a load balancer 928,
which may distribute server load over different pods, such as the
pods 940 and 944. The pods 940 and 944, which may each include one
or more servers and/or other computing resources, may perform data
processing and other operations used to provide on-demand services.
Communication with the pods may be conducted via pod switches 932
and 936. Components of the on-demand database service environment
may communicate with a database storage 956 via a database firewall
948 and a database switch 952.
[0062] As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, accessing an on-demand database
service environment may involve communications transmitted among a
variety of different hardware and/or software components. Further,
the on-demand database service environment 900 is a simplified
representation of an actual on-demand database service environment.
For example, while only one or two devices of each type are shown
in FIGS. 5A and 5B, some implementations of an on-demand database
service environment may include anywhere from one to many devices
of each type. Also, the on-demand database service environment need
not include each device shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, or may include
additional devices not shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.
[0063] Moreover, one or more of the devices in the on-demand
database service environment 900 may be implemented on the same
physical device or on different hardware. Some devices may be
implemented using hardware or a combination of hardware and
software. Thus, terms such as "data processing apparatus,"
"machine," "server" and "device" as used herein are not limited to
a single hardware device, but rather include any hardware and
software configured to provide the described functionality.
[0064] The cloud 904 is intended to refer to a data network or
combination of data networks, often including the Internet. Client
machines located in the cloud 904 may communicate with the
on-demand database service environment to access services provided
by the on-demand database service environment. For example, client
machines may access the on-demand database service environment to
retrieve, store, edit, and/or process information.
[0065] In some implementations, the edge routers 908 and 912 route
packets between the cloud 904 and other components of the on-demand
database service environment 900. The edge routers 908 and 912 may
employ the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). The BGP is the core
routing protocol of the Internet. The edge routers 908 and 912 may
maintain a table of IP networks or `prefixes`, which designate
network reachability among autonomous systems on the Internet.
[0066] In one or more implementations, the firewall 916 may protect
the inner components of the on-demand database service environment
900 from Internet traffic. The firewall 916 may block, permit, or
deny access to the inner components of the on-demand database
service environment 900 based upon a set of rules and other
criteria. The firewall 916 may act as one or more of a packet
filter, an application gateway, a stateful filter, a proxy server,
or any other type of firewall.
[0067] In some implementations, the core switches 920 and 924 are
high-capacity switches that transfer packets within the on-demand
database service environment 900. The core switches 920 and 924 may
be configured as network bridges that quickly route data between
different components within the on-demand database service
environment. In some implementations, the use of two or more core
switches 920 and 924 may provide redundancy and/or reduced
latency.
[0068] In some implementations, the pods 940 and 944 may perform
the core data processing and service functions provided by the
on-demand database service environment. Each pod may include
various types of hardware and/or software computing resources. An
example of the pod architecture is discussed in greater detail with
reference to FIG. 5B.
[0069] In some implementations, communication between the pods 940
and 944 may be conducted via the pod switches 932 and 936. The pod
switches 932 and 936 may facilitate communication between the pods
940 and 944 and client machines located in the cloud 904, for
example via core switches 920 and 924. Also, the pod switches 932
and 936 may facilitate communication between the pods 940 and 944
and the database storage 956.
[0070] In some implementations, the load balancer 928 may
distribute workload between the pods 940 and 944. Balancing the
on-demand service requests between the pods may assist in improving
the use of resources, increasing throughput, reducing response
times, and/or reducing overhead. The load balancer 928 may include
multilayer switches to analyze and forward traffic.
[0071] In some implementations, access to the database storage 956
may be guarded by a database firewall 948. The database firewall
948 may act as a computer application firewall operating at the
database application layer of a protocol stack. The database
firewall 948 may protect the database storage 956 from application
attacks such as structure query language (SQL) injection, database
rootkits, and unauthorized information disclosure.
[0072] In some implementations, the database firewall 948 may
include a host using one or more forms of reverse proxy services to
proxy traffic before passing it to a gateway router. The database
firewall 948 may inspect the contents of database traffic and block
certain content or database requests. The database firewall 948 may
work on the SQL application level atop the TCP/IP stack, managing
applications' connection to the database or SQL management
interfaces as well as intercepting and enforcing packets traveling
to or from a database network or application interface.
[0073] In some implementations, communication with the database
storage 956 may be conducted via the database switch 952. The
multi-tenant database storage 956 may include more than one
hardware and/or software components for handling database queries.
Accordingly, the database switch 952 may direct database queries
transmitted by other components of the on-demand database service
environment (e.g., the pods 940 and 944) to the correct components
within the database storage 956.
[0074] In some implementations, the database storage 956 is an
on-demand database system shared by many different organizations.
The on-demand database service may employ a multi-tenant approach,
a virtualized approach, or any other type of database approach.
On-demand database services are discussed in greater detail with
reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B.
[0075] FIG. 5B shows a system diagram further illustrating an
example of architectural components of an on-demand database
service environment, in accordance with some implementations. The
pod 944 may be used to render services to a user of the on-demand
database service environment 900. In some implementations, each pod
may include a variety of servers and/or other systems. The pod 944
includes one or more content batch servers 964, content search
servers 968, query servers 982, file servers 986, access control
system (ACS) servers 980, batch servers 984, and app servers 988.
Also, the pod 944 includes database instances 990, quick file
systems (QFS) 992, and indexers 994. In one or more
implementations, some or all communication between the servers in
the pod 944 may be transmitted via the switch 936.
[0076] The content batch servers 964 may handle requests internal
to the pod. These requests may be long-running and/or not tied to a
particular customer. For example, the content batch servers 964 may
handle requests related to log mining, cleanup work, and
maintenance tasks.
[0077] The content search servers 968 may provide query and indexer
functions. For example, the functions provided by the content
search servers 968 may allow users to search through content stored
in the on-demand database service environment.
[0078] The file servers 986 may manage requests for information
stored in the file storage 998. The file storage 998 may store
information such as documents, images, and basic large objects
(BLOBs). By managing requests for information using the file
servers 986, the image footprint on the database may be
reduced.
[0079] The query servers 982 may be used to retrieve information
from one or more file systems. For example, the query system 982
may receive requests for information from the app servers 988 and
then transmit information queries to the NFS 996 located outside
the pod.
[0080] The pod 944 may share a database instance 990 configured as
a multi-tenant environment in which different organizations share
access to the same database. Additionally, services rendered by the
pod 944 may call upon various hardware and/or software resources.
In some implementations, the ACS servers 980 may control access to
data, hardware resources, or software resources.
[0081] In some implementations, the batch servers 984 may process
batch jobs, which are used to run tasks at specified times. Thus,
the batch servers 984 may transmit instructions to other servers,
such as the app servers 988, to trigger the batch jobs.
[0082] In some implementations, the QFS 992 may be an open source
file system available from Sun Microsystems.RTM. of Santa Clara,
Calif. The QFS may serve as a rapid-access file system for storing
and accessing information available within the pod 944. The QFS 992
may support some volume management capabilities, allowing many
disks to be grouped together into a file system. File system
metadata can be kept on a separate set of disks, which may be
useful for streaming applications where long disk seeks cannot be
tolerated. Thus, the QFS system may communicate with one or more
content search servers 968 and/or indexers 994 to identify,
retrieve, move, and/or update data stored in the network file
systems 996 and/or other storage systems.
[0083] In some implementations, one or more query servers 982 may
communicate with the NFS 996 to retrieve and/or update information
stored outside of the pod 944. The NFS 996 may allow servers
located in the pod 944 to access information to access files over a
network in a manner similar to how local storage is accessed.
[0084] In some implementations, queries from the query servers 922
may be transmitted to the NFS 996 via the load balancer 928, which
may distribute resource requests over various resources available
in the on-demand database service environment. The NFS 996 may also
communicate with the QFS 992 to update the information stored on
the NFS 996 and/or to provide information to the QFS 992 for use by
servers located within the pod 944.
[0085] In some implementations, the pod may include one or more
database instances 990. The database instance 990 may transmit
information to the QFS 992. When information is transmitted to the
QFS, it may be available for use by servers within the pod 944
without using an additional database call.
[0086] In some implementations, database information may be
transmitted to the indexer 994. Indexer 994 may provide an index of
information available in the database 990 and/or QFS 992. The index
information may be provided to file servers 986 and/or the QFS
992.
[0087] In some implementations, one or more application servers or
other servers described above with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B
include a hardware and/or software framework configurable to
execute procedures using programs, routines, scripts, etc. Thus, in
some implementations, one or more of application servers
50.sub.1-50.sub.N of FIG. 4B can be configured to initiate
performance of one or more of the operations described above with
reference to FIGS. 1-3C by instructing another computing device to
perform an operation. In some implementations, one or more
application servers 50.sub.1-50.sub.N carry out, either partially
or entirely, one or more of the disclosed operations described with
reference to FIGS. 1-3C. In some implementations, app servers 988
of FIG. 5B support the construction of applications provided by the
on-demand database service environment 900 via the pod 944. Thus,
an app server 988 may include a hardware and/or software framework
configurable to execute procedures to partially or entirely carry
out or instruct another computing device to carry out one or more
operations disclosed herein, including operations described above
with reference to FIGS. 1-3C. In alternative implementations, two
or more app servers 988 may cooperate to perform or cause
performance of such operations. Any of the databases and other
storage facilities described above with reference to FIGS. 4A, 4B,
5A and 5B can be configured to store lists, articles, documents,
records, files, and other objects for implementing the operations
described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3C. For instance, lists
of available communication channels associated with share actions
for sharing a type of data item can be maintained in tenant data
storage 22 and/or system data storage 24 of FIGS. 4A and 4B. By the
same token, lists of default or designated channels for particular
share actions can be maintained in storage 22 and/or storage 24. In
some other implementations, rather than storing one or more lists,
articles, documents, records, and/or files, the databases and other
storage facilities described above can store pointers to the lists,
articles, documents, records, and/or files, which may instead be
stored in other repositories external to the systems and
environments described above with reference to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A and
5B.
[0088] While some of the disclosed implementations may be described
with reference to a system having an application server providing a
front end for an on-demand database service capable of supporting
multiple tenants, the disclosed implementations are not limited to
multi-tenant databases nor deployment on application servers. Some
implementations may be practiced using various database
architectures such as ORACLE.RTM., DB2.RTM. by IBM and the like
without departing from the scope of the implementations
claimed.
[0089] It should be understood that some of the disclosed
implementations can be embodied in the form of control logic using
hardware and/or computer software in a modular or integrated
manner. Other ways and/or methods are possible using hardware and a
combination of hardware and software.
[0090] Any of the disclosed implementations may be embodied in
various types of hardware, software, firmware, and combinations
thereof. For example, some techniques disclosed herein may be
implemented, at least in part, by computer-readable media that
include program instructions, state information, etc., for
performing various services and operations described herein.
Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as
produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that
may be executed by a computing device such as a server or other
data processing apparatus using an interpreter. Examples of
computer-readable media include, but are not limited to: magnetic
media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical
media such as flash memory, compact disk (CD) or digital versatile
disk (DVD); magneto-optical media; and hardware devices specially
configured to store program instructions, such as read-only memory
(ROM) devices and random access memory (RAM) devices. A
computer-readable medium may be any combination of such storage
devices.
[0091] Any of the operations and techniques described in this
application may be implemented as software code to be executed by a
processor using any suitable computer language such as, for
example, Java, C++ or Perl using, for example, object-oriented
techniques. The software code may be stored as a series of
instructions or commands on a computer-readable medium.
Computer-readable media encoded with the software/program code may
be packaged with a compatible device or provided separately from
other devices (e.g., via Internet download). Any such
computer-readable medium may reside on or within a single computing
device or an entire computer system, and may be among other
computer-readable media within a system or network. A computer
system or computing device may include a monitor, printer, or other
suitable display for providing any of the results mentioned herein
to a user.
[0092] While various implementations have been described herein, it
should be understood that they have been presented by way of
example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of
the present application should not be limited by any of the
implementations described herein, but should be defined only in
accordance with the following and later-submitted claims and their
equivalents.
* * * * *